Misyar marriage: Difference between revisions
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== Definition of a Misyar Marriage == |
== Definition of a Misyar Marriage == |
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Misyar Marriage is a modern Sunni Muslim innovation. Misyar marriage is defined as an official marital relationship between a man and a woman who do not live together, and where the husband is not financially responsible for supporting his wife. Misyar marriages can be a temporary arrangement, but unlike the [[Nikah Mut'ah]], which ends on the expiration date of the contract, the Misyar has no certain date for divorce. It is up to the husband to divorce his wife whenever, or if ever, he feels like doing so. The difference between a Misyar marriage and a normal marriage is that the couple do not live in one household, but remain on a visitor's basis. |
Misyar Marriage or "travelers marriage" is a modern Sunni Muslim innovation. Misyar marriage is defined as an official marital relationship between a man and a woman who do not live together, and where the husband is not financially responsible for supporting his wife. Misyar marriages can be a temporary arrangement, but unlike the [[Nikah Mut'ah]], which ends on the expiration date of the contract, the Misyar has no certain date for divorce. It is up to the husband to divorce his wife whenever, or if ever, he feels like doing so. The difference between a Misyar marriage and a normal marriage is that the couple do not live in one household, but remain on a visitor's basis. |
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The mesyar's husband is free to travel and leave his wife and children for a long time, and she cannot ask for divorce because of his disappearance. Also, he can marry another woman in another country without informing his first wife. Since it is not a registered (official) marriage, the wife and children lose all their rights if the man divorces her. |
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== Reasons for a Misyar Marriage == |
== Reasons for a Misyar Marriage == |
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Revision as of 20:25, 14 July 2005
Definition of a Misyar Marriage
Misyar Marriage or "travelers marriage" is a modern Sunni Muslim innovation. Misyar marriage is defined as an official marital relationship between a man and a woman who do not live together, and where the husband is not financially responsible for supporting his wife. Misyar marriages can be a temporary arrangement, but unlike the Nikah Mut'ah, which ends on the expiration date of the contract, the Misyar has no certain date for divorce. It is up to the husband to divorce his wife whenever, or if ever, he feels like doing so. The difference between a Misyar marriage and a normal marriage is that the couple do not live in one household, but remain on a visitor's basis.
The mesyar's husband is free to travel and leave his wife and children for a long time, and she cannot ask for divorce because of his disappearance. Also, he can marry another woman in another country without informing his first wife. Since it is not a registered (official) marriage, the wife and children lose all their rights if the man divorces her.
Reasons for a Misyar Marriage
The need for this type of marriage is, in part, the result of economic reality. In Egypt, most young men cannot afford to get married and support a wife and long engagements are common. A Misyar marriage allows men to marry girls who then stay with their parents. The bride's parents feed and maintain her, and the couple meets occasionally for the purpose of having sexual relations. Misyar marriages are often done by the poor who hope that someday their marriage will be a normal one where the wife and husband live together.
Islam and Misyar Marriage
Misyar marriage has been practiced in Saudi Arabia and Egypt for many years. It was legalized in Saudi Arabia by a fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdul 'Azeez ibn Abdullaah ibn Baaz and was officially legalized in Egypt by the Egyptian Sunni Imam Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi in 1999. The Mufti of Egypt is a staunch defender of Misyar marriage.
Abuse of Misyar Marriage
The practive of Misyar marriage is often different from the original intent for creating this institution. Wealthy Kuwaiti and Saudi men sometimes enter into a Misyar marriage while on vacation. This allows them to have sexual relations with another woman without committing the sin of adultery. They travel to poor countries, such as Egypt or Syria, and meet middlemen who arrange a marriage for them. Some men arrange Misyar marriages online. The middleman brings some girls and they pick the one that they like most. These men pay the girl's family some money.
Families agree to the arrangement because of the money and the hope that their girl will have some fun and visit places that she can only dream about (i.e. luxury hotels and restaurants). They also hope for some gifts and at the end of the vacation that the rich "husband" will give her some money and divorce her (although divorce was not a part of the fatwa which created Misyar marriage). Sometimes the husband keeps the wife for his next vacation and sends her some money now and then. Many Misyar wives hope to win the love of their husbands so that they may live with them permanently. Since the wife knows that she will most likely be divorced, but she does not know when, most Misyar wives take care to prevent pregnancy.
Opposition to Misyar Marriage
Misyar marriage is opposed by some Islamic scholars inside and outside of Egypt, especially scholars at the al-Azhar University in Cairo. Those who defend Misyar marriage claim that it is in accordance with Islam. They also say that it gives protection to many women who cannot find husbands through traditional marriage.
Shia's view
Shia are glad that some Sunni have come to the conclusion that Nikah Mut'ah fills a necessary social function in giving laws for those who need it, Shia at the same time look with a humanistic disbelief on the people who refuse acknowledge that Umar made a innovation in forbidding Nikah Mut'ah, and rather innovate their own inferior version of Nikah Mut'ah, a version without Quranic support, not giving the woman the right to know how long the marriage is supposed to last.